Apparatus, computer readable medium, and method for pre-association frame exchange using random access in a high efficiency wireless local-area network

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatuses, and computer readable media for pre-association frame exchange using random access are disclosed. An apparatus of a high-efficiency wireless local-area network (HEW) master station is disclosed. The apparatus includes transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry which may be configured to generate a trigger frame for uplink random access (TF-R), and transmit the TF-R. The transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry may be further configured to receive one or more responses in accordance with orthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA) to the trigger frame from one or more pre-association stations where the responses comprise pre-association identifiers corresponding to the one or more pre-association stations. Moreover, the transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry may be further configured to generate one or more acknowledgements to the one or more pre-association stations, and transmit the acknowledgements in accordance with OFDMA to the one or more pre-association stations.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 119(e) toU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/155,305, filed Apr. 30,2015, which is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments relate to Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers(IEEE) 802.11. Some embodiments relate to high-efficiency wirelesslocal-area networks (HEWs). Some embodiments relate to IEEE 802.11ax.Some embodiments relate to pre-association frame exchange. Someembodiments relate to pre-association frame exchange within a randomaccess period. Some embodiments relate to using pre-associationidentifiers. Some embodiments relate to acknowledging frames receivedfrom pre-association HEW station.

BACKGROUND

Efficient use of the resources of a wireless local-area network (WLAN)is important to provide bandwidth and acceptable response times to theusers of the WLAN. However, often there are many devices trying to sharethe same resources and the devices may interfere with one another.Additionally, it may be difficult to identify a device. Moreover,wireless devices may need to operate with both newer protocols and withlegacy device protocols.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a WLAN in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for pre-association frame exchange inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an association identifier (ID) field andpre-association ID field in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a MAC header of a pre-association uplink managementframe in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an OFDMA ack in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a HEW device in accordance with some embodiments.

DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

FIG. 1 illustrates a WLAN 100 in accordance with some embodiments. TheWLAN may comprise a basis service set (BSS) 100 that may include amaster station 102, which may be an AP, a plurality of high-efficiencywireless (HEW) (e.g., IEEE 802.11ax) STAs 104 and a plurality of legacy(e.g., IEEE 802.11n/ac) devices 106.

The master station 102 may be an AP using the IEEE 802.11 to transmitand receive. The master station 102 may be a base station. The masterstation 102 may use other communications protocols as well as the IEEE802.11 protocol. The IEEE 802.11 protocol may be IEEE 802.11ax. The IEEE802.11 protocol may include using orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple-access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and/orcode division multiple access (CDMA). The IEEE 802.11 protocol mayinclude a multiple access technique. For example, the IEEE 802.11protocol may include space-division multiple access (SDMA) and/ormultiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO).

The legacy devices 106 may operate in accordance with one or more ofIEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad/af/ah/aj, or another legacy wirelesscommunication standard. The legacy devices 106 may be STAs or IEEE STAs.The HEW STAs 104 may be wireless transmit and receive devices such ascellular telephone, smart telephone, handheld wireless device, wirelessglasses, wireless watch, wireless personal device, tablet, or anotherdevice that may be transmitting and receiving using the IEEE 802.11protocol such as IEEE 802.11ax or another wireless protocol. In someembodiments, the HEW STAs 104 may be termed high efficiency (HE)stations.

The master station 102 may communicate with legacy devices 106 inaccordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In exampleembodiments, the master station 102 may also be configured tocommunicate with HEW STAs 104 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11communication techniques.

In some embodiments, a HEW frame may be configurable to have the samebandwidth as a subchannel. The bandwidth of a subchannel may be 20 MHz,40 MHz, or 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 320 MHz contiguous bandwidths or an 80+80MHz (160 MHz) non-contiguous bandwidth. In some embodiments, thebandwidth of a subchannel may be 1 MHz, 1.25 MHz, 2.03 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5MHz and 10 MHz, or a combination thereof or another bandwidth that isless or equal to the available bandwidth may also be used. In someembodiments the bandwidth of the subchannels may be based on a number ofactive subcarriers. In some embodiments the bandwidth of the subchannelsare multiples of 26 (e.g., 26, 52, 104, etc.) active subcarriers ortones that are spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments the bandwidth ofthe subchannels is 256 tones spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments thesubchannels are multiple of 26 tones or a multiple of 20 MHz. In someembodiments a 20 MHz subchannel may comprise 256 tones for a 256 pointFast Fourier Transform (FFT).

A HEW frame may be configured for transmitting a number of spatialstreams, which may be in accordance with MU-MIMO. In other embodiments,the master station 102, HEW STA 104, and/or legacy device 106 may alsoimplement different technologies such as code division multiple access(CDMA) 2000, CDMA 2000 1X , CDMA 2000 Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO),Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), InterimStandard 856 (IS-856), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Global System forMobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperabilityfor Microwave Access (WiMAX)), BlueTooth®, or other technologies.

In some embodiments HEW STAs 104 may associate with master stations 102.The master station 102 may receive a request for a HEW STA 104 toassociate with the master station 102 and, in response, send anassociation identifier to the HEW STA 104. The master station 102 maythen receive data from the HEW STA 104 and forward it to another networksuch as the Internet. The master station 102 may also receive data fromanother network and forward it to the HEW STA 104. The master station102 may keep a record of the associated HEW STA 104 with an InternetProtocol address associated with the association identifier.

Some embodiments relate to HEW communications. In accordance with someIEEE 802.11ax embodiments, a master station 102 may operate as a masterstation which may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium (e.g.,during a contention period) to receive exclusive control of the mediumfor an HEW control period. In some embodiments, the HEW control periodmay be termed a transmission opportunity (TXOP). The master station 102may transmit a HEW master-sync transmission, which may be a triggerframe or HEW control and schedule transmission, at the beginning of theHEW control period. The master station 102 may transmit a time durationof the TXOP and sub-channel information. During the HEW control period,HEW STAs 104 may communicate with the master station 102 in accordancewith a non-contention based multiple access technique such as OFDMA orMU-MIMO. This is unlike conventional WLAN communications in whichdevices communicate in accordance with a contention-based communicationtechnique, rather than a multiple access technique. During the HEWcontrol period, the master station 102 may communicate with HEW stations104 using one or more HEW frames. During the HEW control period, the HEWSTAs 104 may operate on a sub-channel smaller than the operating rangeof the master station 102. During the HEW control period, legacystations refrain from communicating.

In accordance with some embodiments, during the master-sync transmissionthe HEW STAs 104 may contend for the wireless medium with the legacydevices 106 being excluded from contending for the wireless mediumduring the master-sync transmission. In some embodiments the triggerframe may indicate an uplink (UL) UL-MU-MIMO and/or UL OFDMA controlperiod.

In some embodiments, the multiple-access technique used during the HEWcontrol period may be a scheduled OFDMA technique, although this is nota requirement. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may bea time-division multiple access (TDMA) technique or a frequency divisionmultiple access (FDMA) technique. In some embodiments, the multipleaccess technique may be a space-division multiple access (SDMA)technique.

The master station 102 may also communicate with legacy stations 106and/or HEW stations 104 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11communication techniques. In some embodiments, the master station 102may also be configurable to communicate with HEW stations 104 outsidethe HEW control period in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11communication techniques, although this is not a requirement.

In example embodiments, the HEW device 104 and/or the master station 102are configured to perform the methods and functions herein described inconjunction with FIGS. 1-6.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method 200 for pre-association frame exchange inaccordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 2 is frequency 202along a vertical axis and time 204 along a horizontal axis. Thefrequency 202 may include multiple channels 270, which in someembodiments may be termed sub-channels. The actor is listed below thetime. As illustrated there are four channels 270, but there may be feweror more channels 270. The method 200 may begin at operation 252 with amaster station 102 contending for the wireless medium 206. The method200 continues at operation 254 with a downlink transmission from themaster station 102. For example, the master station 102 may transmit atrigger frame for a random access transmission opportunity (TF-R) 208. Arandom access transmission opportunity is a duration where devices maycontend for sub-channels specifically assigned for random access inaccordance with the TF-R 208.

The master station 102 may transmit the TF-R 208 on each of the channels270. In some embodiments the master station 102 may transmit just oneTF-R 208, which may be on a primary channel 270 or may be on multiplechannels 270. In some embodiments, the TF-R includes a duration of therandom access transmission opportunity and may include an indication ofchannels 270 that may be used for the random access transmissionopportunity. In some embodiments, the TF-R 208 may include an indicationof the sub-channels 270 that are to be used for the random accesstransmission opportunity. For example, as illustrated there are twosub-channels for each channel 270 the TF-R 208 is transmitted on. Forexample, TF-R 208.1 may be transmitted on channel 270.1 and uplinkframes 210.1 and uplink frame 210.2 may be transmitted on twosub-channels of channel 270.1.

In some embodiments the master station 102 may assign pre-associationidentifiers to pre-association HEW STAs 104. For example, the TF-R 208may include a pre-association identifier that is to be used by a HEWstation 104 that receives the TF-R 208. The TF-R 208 may includemultiple pre-association identifiers for use on different sub-channels.For example, the TF-R 208.1 may include two pre-association identifiersfor use on sub-channels where uplink frame 210.1 and uplink frame 210.2are transmitted on.

In some embodiments the TF-Rs 208 may include a restriction on the typeof device that is permitted to transmit in the random accesstransmission opportunity. For example, the TF-R 208 may include anindication that only pre-association HEW STAs 104 may transmit withinthe random access transmission opportunity, and/or that only low powerHEW devices 104 may transmit within the random access transmissionopportunity. The TF-R 208 may be termed, in some embodiments, a downlinksynchronization.

The method 200 may continue at operation 256 with HEW STAs 104transmitting uplink frames 210. For example, the uplink frames 210 maybe uplink management frames 210. The uplink frames 210 may include apre-association identifier generated by the HEW STAs 104. The uplinkframes 210 may include a pre-association identifier indicated in theTF-R 208. The HEW STAs 104 may select a sub-channel based on the TF-R208, which may be a random selection of a sub-channel and then may setoff a back-off counter and if the back-off counter decrements to 0 thenthe HEW STA 104 may transmit on the selected sub-channel. For example,the HEW STA 104 may transmit an uplink frame 210.1. In some embodiments,the HEW STA 104 may randomly generate a pre-association ID 362, whichmay be termed in some embodiments a token ID, when the counterdecrements to 0.

FIG. 3 illustrates an association identifier (ID) field 352 andpre-association ID field 358 in accordance with some embodiments. FIG. 3will be described in conjunction with FIG. 2. Illustrated in FIG. 3 isan association ID field 356 and pre-association ID field 362. Theassociation ID field 352 may include an 11 bit field for an associationID 356 and a one bit field 354 (e.g., the most significant bit MSB) foran indication of whether the association ID 356 is an association ID 356or a pre-association ID 362.

The pre-association ID field 358 may include an 11 bit field for apre-association ID 362 and a one bit field 360 for an indication ofwhether the pre-association ID 362 is an association ID 356 or apre-association ID 362. In some embodiments a different number of bitsmay be use for the indication of whether the ID field is an associationID 356 or a pre-association ID 362.

FIG. 4 illustrates a MAC header of a pre-association uplink managementframe 400 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated in FIG. 4 isa duration 402 field which may be used in the random access transmissionopportunity for a pre-association identifier 362. The duration 402 fieldmay be used for the pre-association identifier 362 because the durationof the pre-association uplink management frame 400 may be determined bythe TF-R. In some embodiments, the bits BO through B10 may be used forthe pre-association identifier 362.

Returning to FIG. 2, the uplink frame 210 may be a pre-associationuplink management frame 400. In some embodiments two HEW STAs 104 maytransmit on a same sub-channel an uplink frame 210. For example, two HEWSTAs 104 may simultaneously transmit uplink frames 210.1. The masterstation 102 may only receive one of the uplink frames 210.1. One of theHEW STAs 104 may be a low power HEW STA 104. The uplink frames 210.1 maybe an association request. In some embodiments, the HEW STAs 104 maytransmit the uplink frames 210.1 with the same pre-association ID 362since the pre-association ID 362 may have been generated by the masterstation 102 and the TF-R 208 may indicate a pre-association ID 362 to beused for a particular sub-channel. The uplink frames 210 may betransmitted in accordance with OFDMA.

FIG. 5 will be disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 2. FIG. 5 illustratesan OFDMA ack 500 in accordance with some embodiments. Illustrated inFIG. 5 is a block ack frame which may be used for an OFDMA ack 500. Areserved 502 subfield may be used to indicate the pre-association ID 358(token ID) in bits b0-b10 or an association ID 353. A bit 11 of reserved502 subfield may be used to indicate that the block ack frame is beingused as an OFDMA ack 500, which indicates that subfields block ackstarting sequence control and block ack bitmap may be ignored. Thetraffic identifier (TID) value 504 subfield may be used to indicatewhether the bits b0-b10 are a pre-association ID 358 or an associationID 353. For example, TID value of 1111 may indicate pre-associationidentifier in bits B0-B10 of BA Information field. In some embodiments,if all the HEW STAs 104 that have sent uplink frames 210 arepre-association HEW STAs 104 then the TID value 504 subfield may beignored. In some embodiments, the block ack bitmap 506 subfield may beused to indicate a MAC address of pre-association HEW STA 104.

Returning to FIG. 2, the method 200 may continue with the master station102 transmitting a downlink OFDMA ack 212. For example, the downlinkOFDMA ack 212 may be an OFDMA ack 500 as disclosed in conjunction withFIG. 5. In some embodiments, the OFDMA ack 212 may include a MAC addressof the HEW STA 104. In some embodiments, as described above two HEW STAs104, e.g. STA 1 and STA 2, may transmit uplink frames 210 simultaneouslyon the same sub-channel with the same pre-association ID 358. One of theuplink frames 210 may have reached the master station 102. The masterstation 102 may send a downlink OFDMA ack 212 in response to the oneuplink frame 210 that reached the master station 102. For example, STA1's uplink frame 210 may have reached the master station 102. STA 2whose uplink frame 210 did not reach the master station 102 mayinterpret the downlink OFDMA ack 212 as an ack of its uplink frame 210when its frame did not reach the master station 102. STA 2 may be alower power HEW STA 104 than STA 1. STA 2 may determine that its uplinkframe 210 actually did not reach the master station 102 after a downlinkOFDMA frame 216 reaches STA 2 and the MAC address does not match the MACaddress of STA 2. In some embodiments, the master station 102 mayinclude a MAC address in the DL OFDMA ack 212. For example, a field ofthe block ack frame of FIG. 5 that is not being used for the OFDMA ack500 may be used such as block ack bitmap 506 subfield.

In some embodiments, the method 200 may end. In some embodiments, themethod 200 may continue at operation 260 with a master station 102contending for the wireless medium 214. The method 200 may continue atoperation 262 with the master station 102 transmitting downlink OFDMAframes 216. The OFDMA frames 216 may include a trigger frame for adownlink transmission opportunity. The OFDMA frames 216 may includeassociation IDs 352 for the HEW STAs 104. The OFDMA frames 216 mayinclude a MAC address of the corresponding HEW STA 104. The method 200may continue at operation 264 with the HEW STAs 104 transmittingacknowledgements. The HEW STAs 104 may transmit acknowledgments 218 onthe same sub-channel as the HEW STA 104 receive the OFDMA frame 216. Themethod 200 may end. In some embodiments the method 200 may continue withthe HEW STAs 104 transmitting and receiving packets with an associationID 362.

FIG. 6 illustrates a HEW device 600 in accordance with some embodiments.HEW device 600 may be an HEW compliant device that may be arranged tocommunicate with one or more other HEW devices, such as HEW STAs 104(FIG. 1) or master station 102 (FIG. 1) as well as communicate withlegacy devices 106 (FIG. 1). HEW STAs 104 and legacy devices 106 mayalso be referred to as HEW devices and legacy STAs, respectively. HEWdevice 600 may be suitable for operating as master station 102 (FIG. 1)or a HEW STA 104 (FIG. 1). In accordance with embodiments, HEW device600 may include, among other things, a transmit/receive element 601 (forexample an antenna), a transceiver 602, physical (PHY) circuitry 604,and media access control (MAC) circuitry 606. PHY circuitry 604 and MACcircuitry 606 may be HEW compliant layers and may also be compliant withone or more legacy IEEE 802.13 standards. MAC circuitry 606 may bearranged to configure packets such as a physical layer convergenceprocedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDUs) and arranged to transmit andreceive PPDUs, among other things. HEW device 600 may also includecircuitry 608 and memory 610 configured to perform the variousoperations described herein. The circuitry 608 may be coupled to thetransceiver 602, which may be coupled to the transmit/receive element601. While FIG. 6 depicts the circuitry 608 and the transceiver 602 asseparate components, the circuitry 608 and the transceiver 602 may beintegrated together in an electronic package or chip.

In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 606 may be arranged to contendfor a wireless medium during a contention period to receive control ofthe medium for the HEW control period and configure an HEW PPDU. In someembodiments, the MAC circuitry 606 may be arranged to contend for thewireless medium based on channel contention settings, a transmittingpower level, and a CCA level.

The PHY circuitry 604 may be arranged to transmit the HEW PPDU. The PHYcircuitry 604 may include circuitry for modulation/demodulation,upconversion/downconversion, filtering, amplification, etc. In someembodiments, the circuitry 608 may include one or more processors. Thecircuitry 608 may be configured to perform functions based oninstructions being stored in a RAM or ROM, or based on special purposecircuitry. The circuitry 608 may include processing circuitry and/ortransceiver circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. The circuitry608 may include a processor such as a general purpose processor orspecial purpose processor. The circuitry 608 may implement one or morefunctions associated with transmit/receive elements 601, the transceiver602, the PHY circuitry 604, the MAC circuitry 606, and/or the memory610.

In some embodiments, the circuitry 608 may be configured to perform oneor more of the functions and/or methods described herein and/or inconjunction with FIGS. 1-6.

In some embodiments, the transmit/receive elements 601 may be two ormore antennas that may be coupled to the PHY circuitry 604 and arrangedfor sending and receiving signals including transmission of the HEWpackets. The transceiver 602 may transmit and receive data such as HEWPPDU and packets that include an indication that the HEW device 600should adapt the channel contention settings according to settingsincluded in the packet. The memory 610 may store information forconfiguring the other circuitry to perform operations for configuringand transmitting HEW packets and performing the various operations toperform one or more of the functions and/or methods described hereinand/or in conjunction with FIGS. 1-6.

In some embodiments, the HEW device 600 may be configured to communicateusing OFDM communication signals over a multicarrier communicationchannel. In some embodiments, HEW device 600 may be configured tocommunicate in accordance with one or more specific communicationstandards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) standards including IEEE 802.11-2012, 802.11n-2009,802.11ac-2013, 802.11ax, DensiFi, standards and/or proposedspecifications for WLANs, or other standards as described in conjunctionwith FIG. 1, although the scope of the invention is not limited in thisrespect as they may also be suitable to transmit and/or receivecommunications in accordance with other techniques and standards. Insome embodiments, the HEW device 600 may use 4x symbol duration of802.11n or 802.11ac.

In some embodiments, an HEW device 600 may be part of a portablewireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant(PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communicationcapability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wirelessheadset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, anaccess point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart ratemonitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), an access point, a basestation, a transmit/receive device for a wireless standard such as802.11 or 802.16, or other device that may receive and/or transmitinformation wirelessly. In some embodiments, the mobile device mayinclude one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memoryport, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor,speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCDscreen including a touch screen.

The transmit/receive element 601 may comprise one or more directional oromnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas,monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas orother types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In somemultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may beeffectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and thedifferent channel characteristics that may result.

Although the HEW device 600 is illustrated as having several separatefunctional elements, one or more of the functional elements may becombined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configuredelements, such as processing elements including digital signalprocessors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, someelements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) andcombinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing atleast the functions described herein. In some embodiments, thefunctional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on oneor more processing elements.

Some embodiments may be implemented fully or partially in softwareand/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form ofinstructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium. Those instructions may then be read and executed by oneor more processors to enable performance of the operations describedherein. Those instructions may then be read and executed by one or moreprocessors to cause the device 600 to perform the methods and/oroperations described herein. The instructions may be in any suitableform, such as but not limited to source code, compiled code, interpretedcode, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such acomputer-readable medium may include any tangible non-transitory mediumfor storing information in a form readable by one or more computers,such as but not limited to read only memory (ROM); random access memory(RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; a flashmemory, etc.

The following examples pertain to further embodiments. Example 1 is anapparatus of a high-efficiency wireless local-area network (HEW) masterstation. The HEW master station including transceiver circuitry andprocessing circuitry configured to: transmit a trigger frame for uplinkrandom access (TF-R), receive one or more responses to the trigger framein accordance with orthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA)from one or more pre-association stations. Each response includes apre-association identifier corresponding to one of the one or morepre-association stations. The circuitry may be further configured totransmit one or more acknowledgements to the one or more pre-associationstations in accordance with OFDMA.

In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 can optionally includewhere the one or more acknowledgements are a block acknowledgement frameincluding the pre-association identifier for each of the one or morepre-association stations.

In Example 3, the subject matter of Example 1 or Example 2 canoptionally include where the block acknowledgement frame furtherincludes a field to indicate whether the block acknowledgment frame isfor stations with pre-association identifiers or stations withassociation identifiers.

In Example 4, the subject matter of Example 3 can optionally includewhere the field is to be ignored if all the one or more responses arefrom pre-association stations.

In Example 5, the subject matter of Example 4 can optionally includewhere the block acknowledgement frame further comprise a field toindicate that the block acknowledgement frame is a block acknowledgementframe to an uplink management frame from unassociated stations.

In Example 6, the subject matter of any of Examples 1-5 can optionallyinclude where the transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry isconfigured to receive data frames from stations with associationidentifiers and refrain from receiving data frames from stations withpre-association identifiers.

In Example 7, the subject matter of any of Examples 1-6 can optionallyinclude where the TF-R comprises at least one pre-association identifiercorresponding to one of the one or more pre-association stations, andwhere the transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry are furtherconfigured to transmit the TF-R on one or more channels with the atleast one pre-association identifier in accordance with OFDMA.

In Example 8, the subject matter of any of Examples 1-7 can optionallyinclude where the TF-R comprises an indication of one or more channelsfor the one or more pre-association stations to transmit on and aduration of a random access transmission opportunity.

In Example 9, the subject matter of Example 8 can optionally includewhere the TF-R indicates that only pre-association stations are totransmit in the random access transmission opportunity.

In Example 10, the subject matter of any of Examples 1-9 can optionallyinclude where the pre-association identifiers are generated by the oneor more pre-association stations.

In Example 11, the subject matter of Example 10 can optionally includewhere the one or more pre-association stations randomly generate thecorresponding pre-association identifier if a back-off counterdecrements to a predetermined value, wherein the back-off counter is foraccessing a channel in accordance with OFDMA.

In Example 12, the subject matter of any of Examples 1-11 can optionallyinclude where the one or more responses are pre-association uplinkmanagement frames.

In Example 13, the subject matter of Example 12 can optionally includewhere the pre-association identifier corresponding to one of the one ormore pre-association stations is transmitted within a duration field ofthe pre-association uplink management frames.

In Example 14, the subject matter of any of Examples 1-13 can optionallyinclude where the transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry isfurther configured to generate the one or more acknowledgements to theone or more pre-association stations with a media access control addressof the corresponding one or more pre-association stations.

In Example 15, the subject matter of any of Examples 1-14 can optionallyinclude memory coupled to the transceiver circuitry and processingcircuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to the transceivercircuitry and processing circuitry.

Example 16 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium thatstores instructions for execution by one or more processors. Theinstructions to configure the one or more processors to cause ahigh-efficiency wireless local-area network (HEW) master station to:transmit a trigger frame for uplink random access (TF-R) and receive oneor more responses to the trigger frame in accordance with orthogonalfrequency division multiple-access (OFDMA) from one or morepre-association stations. Each response comprises a pre-associationidentifier corresponding to one of the one or more pre-associationstations. The instructions further to configure the one or moreprocessors to cause the HEW master station to transmit one or moreacknowledgements to the one or more pre-association stations inaccordance with OFDMA.

In Example 17, the subject matter of Example 16 can optionally includewhere the one or more acknowledgements are a block acknowledgement framecomprising the pre-association identifier for each of the one or morepre-association stations.

Example 18 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency wireless local-areanetwork (HEW) station. The HEW station comprising transceiver circuitryand processing circuitry configured to: receive an acknowledgement framecomprising one or more identifiers, and determine whether theacknowledgement frame is for a station with a pre-association identifieror a station with an association identifier based on a field of theacknowledgement that indicates whether the acknowledgment is for thestation with the pre-association identifier or the station with theassociation identifier.

In Example 19, the subject matter of Example 18 can optionally includewhere the acknowledgement frame is a block acknowledgement framecomprising a field to indicate whether the block acknowledgment frame isfor stations with pre-association identifiers or stations withassociation identifiers.

In Example 20, the subject matter of Example 19 can optionally includewhere the field is one of a traffic identifier field or a blockacknowledgment bitmap field of the block acknowledgement frame inaccordance with Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)802.11.

In Example 21, the subject matter of Example 19 can optionally includewhere a value of the field of 1111 indicates the block acknowledgementframe is for the station with the pre-association identifier, andwherein a pre-association identifier and an association identifier areto be indicated in a same field of the acknowledgment frame.

In Example 22, the subject matter of any of Examples 18-21 canoptionally include where a master station is configured to receive dataframes from stations with association identifiers and refrain fromreceiving data frames from stations with pre-association identifiers.

In Example 23, the subject matter of any of Examples 18-21 canoptionally include memory coupled to the transceiver circuitry andprocessing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to thetransceiver circuitry and processing circuitry.

Example 24 is a method performed by a high-efficiency wirelesslocal-area network (HEW) station. The method including transmitting atrigger frame for uplink random access (TF-R), and receiving one or moreresponses to the trigger frame in accordance with orthogonal frequencydivision multiple-access (OFDMA) from one or more pre-associationstations. Each response comprises a pre-association identifiercorresponding to one of the one or more pre-association stations. Themethod further includes transmitting one or more acknowledgements to theone or more pre-association stations in accordance with OFDMA.

In Example 25, the subject matter of Example 24 can optionally includewhere the one or more acknowledgements are a block acknowledgement framecomprising for each of the one or more pre-association stations acorresponding pre-association identifier.

Example 26 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency wireless local-areanetwork (HEW) master station. The apparatus comprising means fortransmitting a trigger frame for uplink random access (TF-R), and meansfor receiving one or more responses to the trigger frame in accordancewith orthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA) from one ormore pre-association stations. Each response comprises a pre-associationidentifier corresponding to one of the one or more pre-associationstations. The apparatus further comprises means for transmitting one ormore acknowledgements to the one or more pre-association stations inaccordance with OFDMA.

In Example 27, the subject matter of Example 26 can optionally includewhere the one or more acknowledgements are a block acknowledgement framecomprising the pre-association identifier for each of the one or morepre-association stations.

In Example 28, the subject matter of Example 27 can optionally includewhere the block acknowledgement frame further includes a field toindicate whether the block acknowledgment frame is for stations withpre-association identifiers or stations with association identifiers.

In Example 29, the subject matter of Example 28 can optionally includewhere the field is to be ignored if all the one or more responses arefrom pre-association stations.

In Example 30, the subject matter of Example 29 can optionally includewhere the block acknowledgement frame further comprise a field toindicate that the block acknowledgement frame is a block acknowledgementframe to an uplink management frame from unassociated stations.

In Example 31, the subject matter of any of Examples 26-30 canoptionally include means for receiving data frames from stations withassociation identifiers and refrain from receiving data frames fromstations with pre-association identifiers.

In Example 32, the subject matter of any of Examples 26-31 canoptionally include where the TF-R comprises at least one pre-associationidentifier corresponding to one of the one or more pre-associationstations, and wherein the apparatus further includes means fortransmitting the TF-R on one or more channels with the at least onepre-association identifier in accordance with OFDMA.

In Example 33, the subject matter of any of Examples 26-32 canoptionally include where the TF-R comprises an indication of one or morechannels for the one or more pre-association stations to transmit on anda duration of a random access transmission opportunity.

In Example 34, the subject matter of Example 33 can optionally includewhere the TF-R indicates that only pre-association stations are totransmit in the random access transmission opportunity.

In Example 35, the subject matter of any of Examples 26-34 canoptionally include where the pre-association identifiers are generatedby the one or more pre-association stations.

In Example 36, the subject matter of Example 35 can optionally includewhere the one or more pre-association stations randomly generate thecorresponding pre-association identifier if a back-off counterdecrements to a predetermined value, wherein the back-off counter is foraccessing a channel in accordance with OFDMA.

In Example 37, the subject matter of any of Examples 25-36 canoptionally include where the one or more responses are pre-associationuplink management frames.

In Example 38, the subject matter of Example 37 can optionally includewhere the pre-association identifier corresponding to one of the one ormore pre-association stations is transmitted within a duration field ofthe pre-association uplink management frames.

In Example 39, the subject matter of any of Examples 25-38 canoptionally include means for generating the one or more acknowledgementsto the one or more pre-association stations with a media access controladdress of the corresponding one or more pre-association stations.

In Example 40, the subject matter of any of Examples 25-39 canoptionally include means for sending and receiving radio frequencysignals coupled to means for processing radio frequency signals.

Example 41 is an apparatus of a high-efficiency wireless local-areanetwork (HEW) station. The apparatus including means for receiving anacknowledgement frame comprising one or more identifiers, and means fordetermining whether the acknowledgement frame is for a station with apre-association identifier or a station with an association identifierbased on a field of the acknowledgement that indicates whether theacknowledgment is for the station with the pre-association identifier orthe station with the association identifier.

In Example 42, the subject matter of Example 41 can optionally includewhere the acknowledgement frame is a block acknowledgement framecomprising a field to indicate whether the block acknowledgment frame isfor stations with pre-association identifiers or stations withassociation identifiers.

In Example 43, the subject matter of Example 41 can optionally includewhere the field is one of a traffic identifier field or a blockacknowledgment bitmap field of the block acknowledgement frame inaccordance with Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)802.11.

In Example 44, the subject matter of any of Examples 41-43 canoptionally include where a value of the field of 1111 indicates theblock acknowledgement frame is for the station with the pre-associationidentifier, and wherein a pre-association identifier and an associationidentifier are to be indicated in a same field of the acknowledgmentframe.

In Example 45, the subject matter of any of Examples 41-44 canoptionally include where a master station is configured to receive dataframes from stations with association identifiers and refrain fromreceiving data frames from stations with pre-association identifiers.

In Example 46, the subject matter of any of Examples 41-45 canoptionally include means for sending and receiving radio frequencysignals coupled to means for processing radio frequency signals.

Example 47 is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium thatstores instructions for execution by one or more processors. Theinstructions to configure the one or more processors to cause ahigh-efficiency wireless local-area network (HEW) station to: receive anacknowledgement frame comprising one or more identifiers, and determinewhether the acknowledgement frame is for a station with apre-association identifier or a station with an association identifierbased on a field of the acknowledgement that indicates whether theacknowledgment is for the station with the pre-association identifier orthe station with the association identifier.

In Example 48, the subject matter of Example 47 can optionally includewhere the acknowledgement frame is a block acknowledgement framecomprising a field to indicate whether the block acknowledgment frame isfor stations with pre-association identifiers or stations withassociation identifiers.

In Example 49, the subject matter of Example 47 or 48 can optionallyinclude where the field is one of a traffic identifier field or a blockacknowledgment bitmap field of the block acknowledgement frame inaccordance with Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)802.11.

In Example 50, the subject matter of any of Examples 47-49 canoptionally include where a value of the field of 1111 indicates theblock acknowledgement frame is for the station with the pre-associationidentifier, and wherein a pre-association identifier and an associationidentifier are to be indicated in a same field of the acknowledgmentframe.

In Example 51, the subject matter of any of Examples 47-50 canoptionally include where a master station is configured to receive dataframes from stations with association identifiers and refrain fromreceiving data frames from stations with pre-association identifiers.

Example 52 is a method performed by a high-efficiency wirelesslocal-area network (HEW) station. The method including receiving anacknowledgement frame comprising one or more identifiers, anddetermining whether the acknowledgement frame is for a station with apre-association identifier or a station with an association identifierbased on a field of the acknowledgement that indicates whether theacknowledgment is for the station with the pre-association identifier orthe station with the association identifier.

In Example 53, the subject matter of Examples 52 can optionally includewhere the acknowledgement frame is a block acknowledgement framecomprising a field to indicate whether the block acknowledgment frame isfor stations with pre-association identifiers or stations withassociation identifiers.

In Example 54, the subject matter of Examples 52 or 53 can optionallyinclude where the field is one of a traffic identifier field or a blockacknowledgment bitmap field of the block acknowledgement frame inaccordance with Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)802.11.

In Example 55, the subject matter of any of Examples 52-54 canoptionally include where a value of the field of 1111 indicates theblock acknowledgement frame is for the station with the pre-associationidentifier, and wherein a pre-association identifier and an associationidentifier are to be indicated in a same field of the acknowledgmentframe.

In Example 56, the subject matter of any of Examples 52-5 can optionallyinclude where a master station is configured to receive data frames fromstations with association identifiers and refrain from receiving dataframes from stations with pre-association identifiers.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) masterstation, the HE master station comprising transceiver circuitry andprocessing circuitry configured to: transmit a trigger frame for uplinkrandom access (TF-R); receive one or more pre-association uplinkmanagement frames in response to the trigger frame in accordance withorthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA) from one or morepre-association stations, wherein each response from the one or morepre-association stations comprises a pre-association identifier; andtransmit one or more acknowledgements to the one or more pre-associatonstations in accordance with OFDMA, wherein the pre-associationidentifier is transmitted within a duration field of the pre-associationuplink management frames.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the oneor more acknowledgements are a block acknowledgement frame comprisingthe pre-association identifier for each of the one or morepre-association stations.
 3. The apparatus of claim
 2. wherein the Nockacknowledgement frame further comprises a field to indicate whether theblock acknowledgment frame is for stations with pre-associationidentifiers or stations with association identifiers.
 4. The apparatusof claim 3, wherein the field is to be ignored if all the one or morepre-association uplink management frames are from pre-associationstations.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the block acknowledgementframe further comprise a field to indicate that the blockacknowledgement frame is a block acknowledgement frame to an uplinkmanagement frame from pre-association stations.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry areconfigured to: receive data frames from stations with associationidentifiers and refrain from receiving data frames from stations withpre-association identifiers.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theTF-R comprises at least one pre-association identifier corresponding toone of the one or more pre-association stations, and wherein thetransceiver circuitry and processing circuitry are further configuredto: transmit the TF-R on one or more channels with the at least onepre-association identifier in accordance with OFDMA.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the TF-R comprises an indication of one or morechannels for the one or more pre-association stations to transmit on anda duration of a random access transmission opportunity.
 9. The apparatusof claim 8, wherein the TF-R indicates that only pre-associationstations are to transmit in the random access transmission opportunity.10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pre-association identifiersare generated by the one or more pre-association stations.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more pre-association stationsrandomly generate the corresponding pre-association identifier if aback-off counter decrements to a predetermined value, wherein theback-off counter is for accessing a channel in accordance with OFDMA.12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transceiver circuitry andprocessing circuitry is further configured to: generate the one or moreacknowledgements to the one or more pre-association stations with amedia access control address of the corresponding one or morepre-association stations.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising: memory coupled to the transceiver circuitry and processingcircuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled to the transceivercircuitry and processing circuitry.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1,further comprising inemory coupled to the transceiver circuitry andprocessing circuitry, wherein the memory is configured to store theTF-R, the one or more pre-association uplink management frames, and theone or more acknowledgements.
 15. A non-transitor computer-readablestorage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or moreprocessors, the instructions to configure the one or more processors tocause a high-efficiency wireless local-area network (HEW) master stationto: transmit a trigger frame for uplink random access (TF-R); receiveone or more pre-association uplink management frames in response to thetrigger frame in accordance with orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple-access (OFDMA) from one or more pre-association stations,wherein each response from the one or more pre-association stationscomprises a pre-association identifier; and transmit one or moreacknowledgements to the one or more pre-association stations inaccordance with OFDMA, wherein the pre-association identifier istransmitted within a duration field of the pre-association uplinkmanagement frames.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 15, wherein the one or more acknowledgements are a blockacknowledgement frame comprising the pre-association identifier for eachof the one or more pre-association stations.
 17. An apparatus of ahigh-efficiency (HE) station, the HE station comprising transceivercircuitry and processing circuitry configured to: receive a blockacknowledgement (BA) frame comprising one or more identifiers; anddetermine whether a BA information field of the block acknowledgementframe is for an unassociated station or a station with an associationidentifier based on a field of the BA information field that indicateswhether the BA information field is for the unassociated station or thestation with the association identifier, wherein a value of the field of1111 indicates the BA information field is for the unassociated station,and wherein a pre-association identifier and an association identifierare to be indicated in a same field of the BA information field.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 17, wherein the field is one of a traffic identifierfield or a block acknowledgment bitmap field of the blockacknowledgement frame in accordance with Institute of Electrical andElectronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17,wherein a master station is configured to receive data frames fromstations with association identifiers and refrain from receiving dataframes from stations with pre-association identifiers.
 20. The apparatusof claim 17, further comprising: memory coupled to the transceivercircuitry and processing circuitry; and, one or more antennas coupled tothe transceiver circuitry and processing circuitry.
 21. The apparatus ofclaim 17, further comprising memory coupled to the transceiver circuitryand processing circuitry, wherein the memory is configured to store theBA frame.
 22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein if the BA informationfield is for the unassociated station, the BA information field furthercomprises a media access control address of the unassociated station.23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the pre-association identifierindicates the BA information field is for the unassociated station. 24.A method performed by a high-efficiency wireless local-area network(HEW) station, the method comprising: transmit a trigger frame foruplink random access (TF-R); receive one or more pre-associations uplinkmanagement frames in response to the trigger frame in accordance withorthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDMA) from one or morepre-association stations, wherein each response from the one or morepre-association stations comprises a pre-association identifier; andtransmit one or more acknowledgements to the one or more pre-associationstations in accordance with OFDMA, wherein the pre-associationidentifier is transmitted within a duration field of the pre-associationuplink management frames.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the one ormore acknowledgements are a block acknowledgement frame comprising foreach of the one or more pre-association stations a correspondingpre-association identifier.